"I think if I win those two, I think it's over," Trump
said. "I think if I win Ohio and I win Florida you'll be
pretty much assured."

He continued: "If you knock them out, nothing can happen. I'd
rather go for a knockout."

Even Trump's biggest critics agree. Florida GOP consultant Rick
Wilson told Business Insider that Trump would be unstoppable
after winning the two states.

"If Trump wins both Ohio and Florida, the seventh seal has opened
and the apocalypse has begun," Wilson said. "The Four Horsemen
ride into the land to destroy us all."

John Green, the chair of the political-science department at the
University of Akron, didn't quite share Wilson's despair. But he
did say Trump's assessment of the race was accurate.

"I don't find myself agreeing with Donald Trump very often about
politics," Green told Business Insider. "But when he said on
Wednesday that he thought [the coming Tuesday] would be a
decisive day, I think there's a good bit of truth to that."

The two wins would give Trump all 165 delegates, even if they
were secured through weak statewide pluralities. Trump would then
significantly increase the already nearly 100-delegate gap
between himself and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Although Cruz is closest to Trump in delegates, Cruz's chances on
beating the frontrunner could easily depend on the other two GOP
candidates — Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Gov. John
Kasich — besting Trump in their respective home states Tuesday.

For Rubio, it appears to be an uphill battle in the Sunshine
State. He trailed Trump by roughly 15 points in the
RealClearPolitics average of at least 11 polls released this
week. The most recent poll suggested that Rubio was gaining
ground, but no recent polls have shown him ahead of Trump.

Rubio began to call for strategic voting on Friday, insisting
that a vote for any candidate other than himself in Florida is
essentially vote for Trump.

The senator
said that Kasich is "the only one who can beat Donald Trump
in Ohio," and added, "If a voter in Ohio is motivated by stopping
Donald Trump, I suspect that's the only choice they can make."

Marco
Rubio greets people during a campaign rally in Tampa,
Florida.Joe Raedle/Getty
Images

But Kasich isn't returning the favor to Rubio.

"We were going to win in Ohio without his help, just as he's
going to lose in Florida without ours," Kasich campaign spokesman
Rob Nichols
told Politico.

That confidence came from Kasich's
tighter battle with Trump in his home state. In Ohio, Kasich
trailed Trump by just 2.5 points in the RealClearPolitics average
of recent polls. Nichols also told Business Insider that Kasich
had an "undefeated" and lengthy electoral record in the state.

"We're not going to lose Ohio. We're fine," Nichols said. "We're
not going to lose Ohio, and Trump will have to go elsewhere."

Nichols also predicted that Kasich's fortunes would increase,
especially if Rubio hits a wall in Florida.

"This is playing out very, very well for us," Nichols said. "What
other guy on the stage has a single accomplishment other than
personal wealth?" he asked.

Green said he believed that Kasich will end up winning Ohio by a
slight margin because of his organization within the state. But
Green also said he's astonished the race is so close there.

"If you would've told me that, 18 months ago, Ohio would have a
contested primary at all — with an Ohio governor running for
president — I would've laughed at you," Green said.

Over the past few days, Trump's campaign has shifted to go
after
Kasich much harder. On Friday, Trump released an attack ad
against Kasich and criticized him as "absentee" at a campaign
rally. On Saturday, the mogul scheduled two more rallies in Ohio.

John Kasich
campaigning.Scott Olson/Getty
Images

Despite the escalating attacks, Kasich has yet to win a state and
has the lowest delegate total of the four remaining GOP
candidates. And Kasich's path to the nomination is cloudy at
best, even if he wins his home state.

"There is no path for Kasich right now no matter what," said
Wilson, the GOP strategist. "I mean, everybody's saying, 'Marco
drop out, Marco drop out.' And John Kasich is not being asked
every 30 seconds, 'Why don't you drop out?' is ridiculous."

At Thursday's CNN debate, Kasich suggested that — like Rubio —
his plan would be to win the nomination through a contested
convention, in which no candidate enters with an outright
majority of the delegates.

"Frankly, I don't know if we're going to get a convention like
that," Kasich
said of the possibility. "But if we do, I was at one in 1976
as a wee lad and supported Ronald Reagan and actually worked
directly with him. He tried valiantly. He lost. Gerald Ford won.
The party was united."

But even if Rubio and Kasich both win their home states next
week, the battle to stop Trump would be far from over. In a
FiveThirtyEight article published Friday, David Wasserman
crunched the numbers and concluded that other crucial states
could also factor in when they vote next Tuesday.

Wasserman wrote:

March 15 has long looked like the most pivotal date on the GOP
primary calendar. And although Florida and Ohio are hogging the
spotlight because they are the sites of Marco Rubio and John
Kasich’s "last stands," don't forget that two other states could
help Donald Trump become essentially unstoppable in his quest for
the nomination: Illinois and Missouri.

"Together, Missouri and Illinois will award 121 delegates — which
would go a long way in helping Trump stay 'on track' for the
nomination," he added, "even if he loses either Florida or Ohio."